Saturday, February 23, 2008

I am now a quarter of the way through Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism. The introduction was tedious; but the subsequent chapters on Mussolini and Italian Fascism, Hitler and Nazism, and Wilson and his version of American Progressivism are very enlightening. Especially when put in the context of the current presidential primary election and rhetoric.

I am pretty convinced that Goldberg wrote his book with Hillary Clinton's campaign in mind. Not just the examples he uses and comparisons he makes, but she is even better footnoted than Bill.

Barack Obama not so much, just two citations in the index, with nothing really to note. Maybe Goldberg can add something in a subsequent printing with Barack in mind, there are significant parallels to be made.

Another thing from the book is how the political agenda of today's Democratic Party differs so little from the Progressive agenda of a century ago. Nationalized healthcare, an anti-business perspective, government handouts to pensioners, expansion of government and government powers - it is all still there.

Thinking of the stumper question being asked of Obama supporters (What has Barrack Obama ever done?), another one came to mind: What new ideas have the progressives had in the last 75 years?